2009 Rescue Kerries Placed: Cate

Cate is approximately 6 yrs old and arrived on a truck loaded with all kinds of dogs released from a horrible puppy mill in Arkansas in February. Cate
and another female Kerry, Moira (about the same age), arrived with about a 5-6” coat of hair totally matted in feces, urine and vomit. Cate almost
didn’t make it out of the mill because the rescue groups involved were unable to temporarily house this very dog aggressive female. Thankfully, a committed
Kerry volunteer gave her a chance and has been fostering Cate for several months, working with her to manage and control her dog aggression and bring
her out of her shell, in order to get her ready for placement. Moira has been adopted.

Typical of puppy mill survivors, Cate had resisted a collar and any attempts to leash walk her. She acted terrified of anything and everything her foster
dad did for her but she did eat….rather sloppily at first. Initially, she wouldn’t take any treats from the hand. She was completely unhousebroken.
She is now reliably housetrained, spayed and fully vaccinated. Cate is tall for a Kerry…about 20-21 inches tall and currently weighs about 47
pounds. Her coat is a mottled gray. Contrary to expectations that she would resist grooming, she did pretty well the first time out, seeming to understand
it was something that made her feel better. She has since been groomed four times and her coat is growing out quite nicely. Now she has a start of
a fall and beard and she loves to be handled and petted. In fact, she seeks affection.

Although she is no longer in attack mode around other dogs, her history of dog aggression should not be forgotten. She is fed away from
the others in the foster home as a precaution to avoid conflict, even though there has never been an issue with food. She runs loose with the other
4 Kerries (under supervision) but doesn’t really play with the other Kerries in the foster home, although she has shown a distinct fondness for a 7
year old neutered male Kerry. They share toys and play keep away from each other in the cool of evenings outside.

Cate requires a special, committed home with loving adult owners who have training experience and a lot of patience and understanding
for what she endured. She's had limited exposure to children, so she would do best in a stable, adult-only environment. She will either be placed as
a solo dog or with very dog-savvy owners if there’s a resident male dog. (Many skittish mill survivors do best when they have a confident dog to show
them the ropes.) She has had limited exposure to other dogs outside her home, but does well when meeting visiting dogs to her home. Her dog aggression
should never be taken for granted but she has made huge strides in controlling it and this canine socialization training should continue.

Cate is very strong and quite skittish --.she’ll try to isolate herself and hide until she knows she is loved and safe. When she knows things are safe,
she comes openly to people and seeks affection. So she also needs lots of positive interaction with people as well as ongoing exposure to daily life.
Her adopter should have training experience and the desire to help her continue to blossom. Based on her progress over the last few months, she will
continue to grow emotionally and become increasingly more confident when given positive experiences with new situations and new people.

Cate requires a fully fenced yard and an owner who can provide her with the companionship she needs during the day. She will become your best friend and
will follow you around like a piece of velcro. Cate is a good dog who deserves a good life. Her owners will be rewarded with a loving, loyal Kerry
girl for years to come.

Rich came with a friend to meet Cate on Saturday, August 15, 2009. He was incredibly sensitive to her and she responded better to him
than I have ever seen her do. Then today around 12:30 (August 16) he came to take her....she had run into my bedroom, so with the same level of sensitivity
he went into the bedroom alone (without us or the dogs and calmed her. When she came out he had her on his lead. After we signed the contract, we walked
her out to his car, put her in it, and off they went. [...]

I truly feel this is a terrific match having met Rich and watching him interact with her as well as the other dogs.

I think this is my ninth placement in three years [...] Makes me feel pretty good about it.

Jerry

Here's the note from her adopter:

Home now , all went well except the contents [of her stomach] came up in first 30 min of travel [...]. Then she was fine as an angel for the entire trip.
She was a liitle skittish at the rest stops tail down and acted scared.

Cate chased a rabbit upon entering (tail-up) the new back-yard in lightning speed. She has a keen eye as I never saw the rabbit till it went through the
fence.